Everyone is in favour of importing skills that improve their own position, but against those that compete with them. So lawyers oppose the arrival of antipodean lawyers. Plumbers oppose the every of polish plumbers. Etc.
Except programmers. They seem to respect talent irrespective of where it comes from, and never believe that a talented programmer on their team will lower their income.
Oh, of course. But it would just be interesting to see the country split. The current geographic categories the ONS uses (Commonwealth versus non-Commonwealth) are absurd. I would also like to see the split by different visa types, e.g. investor, post-study, highly skilled work, other work, family etc. A break up by individuals and by families too.
Although, on a side point, nurse salaries start at £21k, raising to £28k, so they are probably close to the line for net contribution.
I'm quite happy for more people to import skills at my level, or for any other high income profession. My opposition is to importing skills for middle to low income jobs, because I think the low income in work have particularly tough lives.
Surely the issue should be skills rather than national origin?
Jamaican Nurses are fine, Pakistani Doctors and Bangladeshi pilots are all welcome, it is their less skilled compatriots that bring down the average financial cost/benefit for migrants.
It is also worth noting that many of our Leicester Somali community hold Dutch or Swedish passports/residency. It is not so easy to distinguish EU15 nationals from others.
Very interesting. So it's quite possible A8 countries have been a net drain. I can only imagine what the numbers must be for places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Somalia and Jamaica where the populations are considerably less skilled.
Yes, but the flip side of that is the brain drain on the original, poorer, home nations.
Comments
Everyone is in favour of importing skills that improve their own position, but against those that compete with them. So lawyers oppose the arrival of antipodean lawyers. Plumbers oppose the every of polish plumbers. Etc.
Except programmers. They seem to respect talent irrespective of where it comes from, and never believe that a talented programmer on their team will lower their income.
Oh, of course. But it would just be interesting to see the country split. The current geographic categories the ONS uses (Commonwealth versus non-Commonwealth) are absurd. I would also like to see the split by different visa types, e.g. investor, post-study, highly skilled work, other work, family etc. A break up by individuals and by families too.
Although, on a side point, nurse salaries start at £21k, raising to £28k, so they are probably close to the line for net contribution.
I'm quite happy for more people to import skills at my level, or for any other high income profession. My opposition is to importing skills for middle to low income jobs, because I think the low income in work have particularly tough lives.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/societybookreviews/10433345/Exodus-by-Paul-Collier-review.html